Settlement, Warehouse, Servicing Transfer Tools; Training and Webinars; Rates React to Inflation Data

By: Rob Chrisman • 6 Hours, 44 Min ago

Do you know the interest rate on your loan? How about the age of your roof? Here in Austin, a big concern is too much growth: Austin has gained 1 million people in the last 15 years. Sprawl, traffic, and new construction have become the name of the game. As well as mounting property tax and insurance costs. Insurance agents and companies seem to be controlling homeowners, remodeling, landscaping, and…roofing. Property and climate risk platform ZestyAI conducted a 27,000-property advanced AI and aerial imagery survey on roof age, which found a surprisingly high proportion of properties have misreported the age of the roof as a result of out-of-date, or self-reported data. 17% of roofs are older than reported by an average of 8 years, and 63% of homeowners do not know the age of the roof, which creates significant risk for insurers and homeowners. “Many insurers still rely on self-reported roof ages, leading to inaccuracies that delay quotes, compromise customer experience, and inflate losses.” (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Calque. White-labeled buy-before-you-sell solutions powered by Calque help you increase purchase volume and increase realtor business by helping them differentiate with a better process. With coverage in the 48 contiguous states, what are you waiting for? Hear an interview with Polly’s Adam Carmel on disruption in the mortgage industry and how companies should evaluate PPE providers.)

Lender and Broker Services, Software, and Products

“FHA Loss Mitigation changes ring in the New Year… Change almost seems synonymous with loss mitigation and CLARIFIRE®, and 2025 is queued up to deliver on this expectation. Multiple agencies collaborated in a comment letter to the CFPB, requesting consistency and transparency in FHA’s proposed new loss mitigation waterfall. This is followed by FHA’s first Mortgagee Letter of the year, which expands the Defect Taxonomy. Read our latest blog, “Using Technology to Gain Industry Momentum: A 2025 Perspective,” to see how this impacts the loss mitigation processes in your organization. This call-to-action heralds consistency, transparency, advanced technology, and meaningful borrower outcomes. Meet us at MBA’s Servicing Solutions Conference and Expo (Booth #215) to learn how CLARIFIRE® is positioned to help you meet the Loss Mitigation challenges on the horizon: Modern process automation designed for the future of our industry.”

Servicing transfers are challenging, which is why ICE is working to equip servicers with tools that support this critical process. ICE understands the anatomy of a servicing transfer, from planning and trial to assessment and reconciliation, and understands the immense pressure teams are under to get each transfer right. In ICE’s new blog, SVP of Servicing Product Innovation Dana Federspiel shares more about the advanced data mapping and standardization tools ICE is developing, as well as the “transfer tracker” dashboard, to help create a more streamlined, transparent and efficient servicing transfer process. Read the blog now.

“Happy New Year from your team at Newrez Correspondent! It’s 2025, and time to thrive! Newrez wishes our customers, prospects, and industry partners a fantastic start to this new year and a very successful conference season ahead. To kick things off, in late January, Alex Weems and Tom Winston will be attending the IMB in Austin, TX. In February, join Patty Devita, Rebecca Sommer, and Tom Winston as they ascend upon Houston, TX for the TMBA Southern Secondary, followed by Chris Nobile and Tony Petronio representing us at the CT MBA’s NE Mortgage Summit in Uncasville, CT. To set a meeting with one of these Newrez Correspondent Regional Sales Managers, please click here.”

Loan Originators and Sales Leaders! Did you know that dollar for dollar, there’s no better source for quality leads than the people who already know, like and trust you? Of course you do! But do you have a method to stay engaged with these individuals that is both easy and effective? Join OptifiNow's webinar this Wednesday, January 22nd at 10 am PST, “The $100k Opportunity Your Loan Officers Are Missing Out On” to learn the ‘30 for 30 Plan’ that 20-year mortgage industry veteran Brian Roe used to grow his own business and to later help his team double their production per originator. He shares the recipe for creating the ideal process that will have you generating at least 30 more deals every year. Register for the webinar today and find out how simple it is to unlock the goldmine sitting in front of you.

How wide is the gap between appraised and sale prices? Corporate Settlement Solutions (CSS), a leading regional provider of real estate settlement solutions, just released its half-year Appraisal Gap Analysis showing that appraisals were higher than the sale price 57% of the time in the second half of 2024, up from 53% in the second half of 2023. This comprehensive report is based on an analysis of 19 states and D.C., with detailed insights for the 10 highest-volume states within CSS’ footprint. Commenting on the data, CSS’ CEO, Ashley Jelinek said, “Accurate, market-centric valuations are key to a healthy mortgage market, so it will be interesting to see how well appraised values align with market-driven sales prices throughout 2025 as the housing market continues to find its new normal.” Click here for additional insight into the analysis and to learn more about CSS.

Training, Entertaining Webinars, and Conferences

MBA has partnered with PhoenixTeam to offer hands-on and actionable AI training for mortgage professionals. Starting with a webinar this afternoon, MBA and PhoenixTeam will set the stage for a series of virtual trainings focused on the AI Mortgage Practitioner that run from February through June. These trainings are suited for anyone who needs to contribute to the adoption and use of AI in mortgage lending. Over the summer, MBA and PhoenixTeam will host two in-person training workshops in DC (July 23-24) and Dallas (August 18-19). Day 1 will be for the AI Mortgage Practitioner and Day 2 will be advanced training for those who need to lead AI departments and initiatives. Please contact David Upbin at MBA if you have any questions and to get enrolled.

A good place for longer term conference planning is to start is here for in-person events in the future; and organizers can post their event!

Thursday will be another episode of The Big Picture at 3PM ET. Rich Swerbinsky hosts a variety of guests. You can click here to register for Thursday’s 3 PM ET show. This week’s has Ryan Donovan, President and CEO of the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks!

Friday, listen in to opinions (Last Word Fridays at 1pm ET) from Kevin Peranio and Brian Vieaux! Register here.

Educate & Elevate with National MI University's January Webinars.

We have the 2025 MBA Economic and Housing Forecast Webinar, today, January 16, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EST).

Join TMBA on January 16, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm for a comprehensive Texas legislative update presented by Meredyth Fowler, General Counsel of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association. This session will focus on critical changes and trends affecting the mortgage industry, covering legislative, regulatory, and relationship-building insights gained from the latest Texas legislative session.

Join A&D Mortgage on January 21, 2025, at 1PM ET for an exclusive webinar "Mortgage Horizons 2025: Industry Experts’ Outlook." This session designed professionals eager to stay ahead of market shifts and embrace innovations that drive success, brings together Max Slyusarchuk, Founder and CEO, A&D Mortgage, Bob Diamond, Founding Partner and CEO, Atlas Merchant Capital, Rob Chrisman, The Chrisman Commentary, and Alex Suslov, Head of Capital Markets, A&D Mortgage. Whether you're a mortgage broker, lender, or financial advisor, this webinar is your chance to understand key trends shaping 2025, learn strategies to stay competitive and meet borrower expectations, discover emerging technologies disrupting the industry, get actionable insights from leading experts. Don’t miss this opportunity to prepare for the future of mortgage lending in 2025 with top industry experts.

Capital Markets

MCT continues to transform mortgage servicing portfolio management as it announces the release of MSRlive! 4.0. This major upgrade delivers unprecedented transparency into MSR valuation drivers, empowering portfolio managers with actionable intelligence and deeper analytical insights. Key enhancements include detailed market assumption tracking, comprehensive servicing cost analysis, and dynamic duration/convexity reporting. For the first time, users can examine the underlying components to understand exactly what's driving their portfolio's performance and valuation changes. "MSRlive! 4.0 represents a quantum leap in portfolio transparency," says Bill Shirreffs, Head of MSR Services. "We've built the reporting our clients need to analyze their portfolios with absolute confidence." Read the full press release to learn about the industry's most advanced MSR valuation platform and contact MCT to see how MSRlive! 4.0 can transform your portfolio management strategy.

Bond yields dropped yesterday, dare I say precipitously, following the release of the December Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. The headline CPI increased 0.4 percent month-over-month, slightly exceeding the expected 0.3 percent, while Core CPI rose 0.2 percent, in line with expectations. On a year-over-year basis, total CPI was up 2.9 percent, compared to 2.7 percent in November, and Core CPI eased slightly to 3.2 percent from 3.3 percent. The report indicated that inflation is not accelerating as much as feared, which reassured markets. However, it still remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target.

The data also pointed to cooling inflation in certain areas, particularly in shelter costs, which have slowed to a three-year low. The 4.5 percent increase in shelter costs was the slowest in recent years, partly due to a surplus of vacant rental units. Additionally, falling oil prices have further eased inflationary pressures, with expectations that inflation will continue to moderate. These factors contributed to a positive bond market reaction, and there is now renewed hope for slightly lower mortgage rates ahead of the spring home-buying season. Also making headlines, large domestic banks reported stronger than expected quarterly earnings across the board.

The Federal Reserve's January Beige Book highlighted that economic activity expanded at a modest to moderate rate since the previous report. Consumer spending was bolstered by robust holiday sales, and vehicle sales showed moderate growth. However, construction activity slowed, partly due to rising material costs. Manufacturing activity declined, and residential real estate activity remained stable. Employment increased across six of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts, while price increases were seen as modest.

Today’s economic calendar is packed, and kicked off with retail sales (+0.4 percent), import/export prices (+0.1 percent), Philadelphia Fed manufacturing, and weekly jobless claims (217k). Later today brings business inventories for November, the NAHB Housing Market Index for January, Treasury announcing the auction sizes for next week’s reopened 20-year bonds and 10-year TIPS, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, and bank earnings continue on Wall Street (Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial, US Bancorp, and M&T Bank. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices slightly worse than yesterday's close, the 2-year yielding 4.28 percent, and the 10-year yielding 4.67 after closing yesterday at 4.65 percent.